Wesley Corpus

Nothing I am, and nothing have, Nothing my helplesness can do; But thou art good, and strong to save, And all that seek may find thee true. How shall I ask, and ask aright? My lips refuse my heart t' obey: But all my wants are in thy sight; My wants, my fears, my sorrows pray. I want thy love, I fear thy frown, My own foul sin I grieve to see: T' escape its force would now sink down, And die, if death could set me free. Yet O I cannot burst my chain, Or fly the body of this death: Immur'd in flesh I still remain, And gasp a purer air to breathe. I groan to break my prison-walls, And quit the tenement of clay; Nor yet the shatter'd mansion falls, Nor yet my soul escapes away. Page 60 Ah Lord! Wouldst thou within me live, No longer then should I complain, Nor sighing wish, nor weeping grieve For Christ my life, or death my gain. From grief and sin I then should cease; My loosen'd tongue should then declare Comfort, and love, and joy, and peace, Fill all the soul when Christ is there! Psalm cxliii. 6 (BCP). "My soul gaspeth for thee, as a thirsty land." Lord, how long, how long shall I Lift my weary eyes in pain? Seek, but never find thee nigh, Ask thy love, but ask in vain, Crush'd beneath my nature's load, Darkly feeling after God! O disclose thy lovely face, Quicken all my drooping powers! Gasps my fainting soul for grace, As a thirsty land for showers: Haste, my Lord, no longer stay, Come, my Jesus, come away! Page 6131 Well thou know'st I cannot rest, Till I fully rest in thee, Till I am of thee possest, Till from sin and self set free, All the life of faith I prove, All the joy and heaven of love. See my sad inconstant state, Give me, Lord, this root within: Trembling for thy love I wait, Still relapsing into sin, Falling, till thy love I feel, Ever sinking into hell. With me O continue, Lord, Keep me, or from thee I fly: Strength and comfort from thy word Imperceptibly supply; Hold me till I apprehend, Make me faithful to the end. Longing after Christ.32